Sparoza was started in 2014 by Effie Ekmetzoglou, an Athenian whose family originated from Anatolia. She left a 20-year career as a publisher to translate her passion for herbs and spices into a a new career. Seeking the finest raw materials and making her own lemon and orange zest, Effie captured the blends she had always used in her own cooking and began selling them around her Athens neighborhood of Exarcheia. Soon she opened up her small production facility for shoppers and tourists, showing a more productive, positive side of her community than what was often portrayed on the news during the area’s demonstrations over Greece’s debt crisis.

We first met Effie at a trade fair in Athens, where her eye-catching product design literally stopped us in our tracks. One sip of her tea and our first exchange of words and we were convinced that we spoke the same language. Effie's commitment to her community and to high quality were a perfect fit with our criteria for selecting new Artisans.

Effie selects the raw materials for Sparoza with strict criteria: rosemary and thyme are picked when in blossom, she makes her very own top quality citrus zest using fresh Greek lemons and oranges, every ingredient is ground to a different degree so as to best preserve its culinary and nutritional value. Importantly for us, Sparoza products do not contain preservatives, additives, artificial flavors nor colorants.

Sparoza continues to innovate, first launching blends of Greek mountain tea and herbs, and more recently a growing collection of Greek Cuisine Classics, perfectly-blended cooking mixes that allow you to easily replicate beloved traditional Greek dishes, getting that authentic flavor just right. Like all of Sparoza's products, the packaging is beautifully designed, thanks to a close collaboration with a daring design duo.

Zelos is proud to help this small business bring the fragrances and flavors of Greece to the US. Read more about Effie on our Zelos Blog.

Sparoza's products are manufactured in facilities that meet ISO/HACCP food safety regulation standards.